Hi, I'm Bryan Hare. I'm gonna be your teacher for this class, Dog Emotion and Cognition. Welcome. I think, it's gonna be a lot of fun because we're gonna spend a lot of time talking about everybody's best friend, dogs. There's been a revolution in our understanding of how they think. And that's what this class is gonna be all about, is learning about how dogs actually operate in their world. And as we do that, we're gonna learn all about cognitive science, about evolution, and a little bit about ourselves. So, I hope you're going to enjoy and what we're going to do is there's going to be about two dozen lectures. They're going to be organized around topics that have to do with how we discover what makes dogs remarkable. How dogs evolved from wolves. How that may impact how we think about our own evolution. And we're gonna talk about some of the remarkable things that have been discovered about how dogs think. And some of the things that are not so remarkable about how dogs solve problems. We're going to also talk about our relationship with dogs and how we might use this new understanding to better teach dogs. Also, how to deal with problems that dogs have with things like aggression. Finally, what does it mean for our relationship that we have all this new knowledge. So for the class what'll be really helpful is the text, The Genius of Dogs. It's not required but a lot of what we're gonna talk about is based on this book. That reviews all the literature that's come out on Dog Psychology. And also what'll be helpful is dognition.com. So if you go to dognition.com/mooc, M,O,O,C. You will find a free version that will provide you the first two sets of games. That are the actual games that have been published in the published literature, but you can play with your dog at home. So, go to dognition.com. Check it out. Again, it's dognition.com/mooc. Again, not required, but think of it as like a laboratory for the class that you'll really enjoy. Okay, so let's set some ground rules for the class. So, the first thing is how are you going to be assessed. Well, you know we're gonna have quizzes at the end of each lecture. There'll be a couple of questions that will pertain to that lecture specifically, and then we're gonna have a final exam at the very end. So nothing complicated and I think you'll find it fun cuz the material couldn't be more fun. And then, obviously we'll have forums where you can discuss each lecture with other people taking the class. I know that, on course people have found that even the most, you know, most important thing they can do. And that leaves me the unfortunate part of course where because there's so many students taking each class, it's hard for a professor like myself or the TA's, the teaching assistants to answer any emails you have. So we won't be able to write you back, so please don't write and ask questions to us directly. Those are best channeled to those forums where you can discuss with many of the other students taking the class. Ad we'll be out there occasionally addressing things that you might be concerned about. The other thing, is don't put answers to the quizzes, and for each week on the form because that obviously will ruin it for other people. So the rules are pretty simple, enjoy the lectures, take the quizzes, there will be a final and get out there. And talk with your fellow students. And I think you're gonna have a great time. Okay, so how did I, somebody who is an Evolutionary who's interested in how humans evolve, how did I get interested in dogs? Well there's two questions that really guided my research. The first, is what is it that makes us human? And I spent a lot of my time with young human infants. And with bonobos. And chimpanzees which are our two closest living relatives. Comparing humans to other great apes to try to understand what is the little difference that makes the big difference between. How they solve problems and how we solve problems. And how that makes us who we are and different from all other animals. But I'm also really interested in a second question. And that's where dog really have played a huge role. Which is, once we figure out what it is, that makes us unique or special as a species, how did it happen? How did we become to be the way that we are? And what you're gonna find through the semester, through the course, is that we're gonna learn that dogs have played a huge role in trying to help us answer that question. So that's why somebody who's interested in Human Evolution, studies dogs. So, because I'm interested in dogs, to answer that second question, I founded the Duke Canine Cognition Center in 2009. It's at Duke University and we have lots of people. And the surrounding areas who bring their dogs to Duke. And we play games with them just like this one, where dogs have to make choices between one or two cups. And by looking at the choices they make, we can make inferences about how they're thinking. How is it that they are making decisions in their world even though they can't talk to us. And that's what this semester's gonna be about, is looking at all sorts of games we've played with dogs. And using experiments to better understand how dogs think. Okay, so there are two things that we're potentially gonna use to help us understand the material. One is, The Genius of Dogs, which is a book I wrote together with my wife, Vanessa Woods. And it reviews the literature on Dog Psychology. And what we're going to do, is at the beginning of each lecture, I'll tell you which chapter is most relevant to what it is we're going to be talking about in that lecture. So for instance, chapter eight is highlighted here. Chapter eight's the one that this lecture is most relevant to. And of course, it's not required that you read that chapter, but if you're really interested, that would be the chapter that would be most helpful to you. And then Dognition, if you go to dognition.com/mooc, you can play the first two games out of five that are represented here for free. If you want to continue and play more, you can sign up for Dognition as a member. And play the rest. And what I'm gonna do is each week, I'll tell you, or sorry, for each lecture I'll tell you which of those five sets of games are most relevant to the lecture we're talking about. Now, the reason that I'm doing tha,t is because think of it as like a lab where in you're in a class and you have activities in the laboratory. Where you actually can really experience the science that you've been talking about in the lecture. And that's really the function that Dognation can play here. Now again, it's not required. And two of those sets of games, empathy and communication are freely available if you want to take advantage of them. And if you enjoy it, you can play the rest. But again, not required. But I think it would be really helpful to understand exactly what it is we are talking about by experiencing it. Okay, so in each week again, I will highlight which of those games are most relevant to the lecture we're gonna be talking about.. Okay, to summarize in this introduction, we're gonna have a series of short lectures covering material on Dog Cognition and Evolution. And that's because there's really been a revolution in understanding. We've really learned more in the last ten years than we had in the previous 100 about Dog Psychology. All the material provides a great introduction to Cognitive Psychology and Evolution while having a direct application to you and your dog. Each week's lecture will be broken into a number of smaller presentations. There will be about two dozen in total. At the end of each lecture there will be quizzes so that you can remember the material better. And again, not required but recommended, is check out, get a copy of The Genius of Dogs. You can get it anywhere, books are sold as your text. Go to dognition.com/ mooc. And you can do that as your lab activity to help you understand exactly what it is to play cognitive games with dogs. And most importantly, enjoy discussing the material with the other students online. And get ready for that final exam. All right. So, let's go do Dog Emotion and Cognition together.
